Native leader to Harper: 'We will be the wall that Enbridge cannot break through'

A prominent native leader vowed physical confrontations with Enbridge, should the Calgary company attempt to build an oil sands pipeline through the B.C. interior.

"I'm going to stand in front of bulldozers to stop this project and I expect my neighbours to back me up," Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik'uz First Nation told a packed Vancouver press conference Thursday morning.

Thomas stressed to the room that she was speaking on behalf of the Yinka Dene Alliance, whose member nations control more than 25 percent of the territory along Enbridge's proposed pipeline route.

And she meant her declaration as a direct challenge to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's stated goal of shipping Alberta oil sands crude to Asia.

"I have news for you Mr. Harper, you're never going to achieve your dream of pushing pipelines through our rivers and lands," Thomas said. "We will be the wall that Enbridge cannot break through."

Thursday's press conference was called by native leaders to announce that several new B.C. First Nations will now fight the Northern Gateway project, bringing to 130 the number of nations opposed.